Urban Magic with GenAI: Turning Public Assets Into Profit Generators

Client

A forward-thinking Saudi municipality on a mission: how do we make our city smarter, safer, more social and sustainable — and make money from underutilized assets while we’re at it?

Problem

The city had a portfolio of underutilized assets and a vision for vibrant urban life — but no clear path to connect the two. Traditional methods like benchmarking, expert panels, and workshops had hit their creative ceiling. The budget was tight. Private-sector interest was tepid. And the pressure was on to deliver high-impact results that looked good both on the ground and on the balance sheet.

The city didn’t need another binder of “global best practices.” They needed bold ideas — fast — and a plan to make them real.

Approach

We built a GenAI-powered tool infused with creative methodologies like morphological analysis and forced connections (think Mad Libs for urban planning, but make it strategic).

This wasn’t just idea generation — it was idea engineering. The tool generated 142 distinct revenue and value-creation ideas. We pressure-tested them and narrowed them down to the 21 most promising. These were eventually bundled into four crowd-pleasing, investment-attracting concepts:

• Parks as community oases
• Next-gen last-mile logistics with a sustainable twist
• Pop-up activations during mega-events
• Gamified tourism that makes exploring the city feel like play

We backed these with detailed business models, implementation plans, and operational blueprints. And we didn’t stop there — we ran full financial models and risk assessments to prove these weren’t just good on paper.

Results

A strategy that unlocks $20M+ in annual revenue and cost savings.

But it wasn’t just about the money. These ideas are reshaping how residents interact with their city — boosting sustainability, strengthening community ties, and fostering local pride.